Gravel-excavating machine.



vNo. 861,200. PATENTED JULY 23, 1,907.A

E. ULREY.

GRAVBL BXGAVATIN-G.-MAGHINE. vAPPLICATION FILED AUG. 28, 1'906.

PATBNTED'JULY 23, 1907, B. ULREY.l

GRAVEL BXGAVATING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 28. 1006. Y

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Innen/for, Edward lrey,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD ULREY, OF LEBANON, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FRANCIS LONG,OF

LEBANON, INDIANA.

GRAVEL-EXCAVATING- MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1907.

Application filed August 28, 1906. Serial No. 332,391.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD ULREY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Lebanon, in the county of Boone and State of Indiana, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Gravel-ExcavatingMachines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in machines for excavating gravelout of a pit containing water, and the object of the invention is toprovide a floating mechanism which will be drawn back and forth acrossthe surface ofthe Water in the pit and will be provided with a diggingand conveying apparatus which will loosen and elevate the gravel incourses across the bottom of the pit and discharge it upon the bank ofthe pit into wagons or cars or upon piles to be re-loaded and hauledaway.

l accomplish the objects of the invention by the mechanism illustratedin the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a vertical sectionof a gravel pit with my floating excavator shown in side elevation andpartial vertical section therein, Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 ofFig. l looking in the direction of the arrows, and Fig. 3 is a detail infront elevation of the belt carrier with digging fork and bucketattached.

Like characters of reference indicate like parts in the two views.

3 is a floating platform or flatboat which supports m excavating andconveying mechanism.

4, 4 are standards supported by the platform 3 and extending in verticalplanes parallel with each other and running longitudinally of theplatform. These standards are placed oblique with the adjacent end ofthe platform and slope upwardly and outwardly'towards said end. They areprovided with inside ribs or flanges 5 (see Fig. 2) runninglongitudinally of the standard and forming slideways or guides tocontrol the direction of movement of the frame which carries the diggingforks and buckets for excavating and elevating the gravel. This framecomprises the parallel timbers 6, "6 extending longitudinally of theframe and connected by means of the cross-bars 7 The timbers 6, 6have/longitudinal outside grooves 8 in which the flanges 5 make a closesliding fit.

Mounted in suitable bearings which are bolted to the standards 4, 4 isthe transverse shaft 9 on a projecting end of which is mounted thehand-wheel l0. Fastened to the timbers 6, 6 on their sides adjacent toshaft 9 are the rack-bars ll, and mounted on the shaft 9 are the pinionsl2 the teeth of which mesh with the teeth of the respective rack-barsll. By the above-described mechanism the frame of which the timbers 6, 6are a part,` will be raised and lowered by correspondingly rotating theshaft 9:

Mounted in suitable bearings near the upper ends of the timbers 6, 6 isthe`sha'ft 13 and mounted in like mannerat the lower ends of saidtimbers 6, Gis the shaft 14. Mounted on the lshaft 13 are a pair ofsprocket wheels l5 and a pair of sprocket wheels l5 are also mounted inlike manner on the shaft 14. Iassing around one of the upper sprocketwheels l5 and the lower sprocket wheel l5 on the same side of the frameis a link-belt carrier 16, and a like link-belt carrier I6 passes aroundand connects the upper and lower sprocket wheels on the other side ofthe frame.

Connecting the two link-belt carriers at frequent intervals, are thehorizontal bars 20, and to certain ones of these bars, here shown asevery fourth one, is attached a series of digging hooks or forks 2lwhich are adapted to be brought into contact with the gravel at thebottom of the pit by the lowering of the frame which supports thecarriers, and the imparting of a suitable travel to the carriers. Thiswill cause the gravel to be dug up and loosened into a condition to bereadily scooped up by the buckets 23 which are attached to the bars 20occurring between those which carry the forks 2l. The gravel thusscooped up by the buckets will be carried to the top of the frame andwill be emptied by the overturning of the buckets in passing over thesprocket wheels l5 at the top of the frame. Discharging by gravity fromthe overturned buckets the gravel will fall upon an endless carrierlocated below for the purpose of receiving the gravel and conveying itacross to the bank of the pit. The oblique position of the standards 4,4 and the frame sliding therein is for the purpose of permitting thelast conveyer to be introduced suflciently well under the upperdischarge end of the abovedescribed carrier and buckets to receive thegravel discharged at the overhanging upper end of the frame.

25 are vertical standards supported by the platform 3. These standardssupport a horizontal shaft 26 on which a pair of sprocket wheels ismounted, and supported from this shaft is a trough 27, the upper end ofwhich is held by the brace-rod 28 which ties it to the standards 4, 4.The trough 27 supports a shaft 29 at its upper end, parallel with theshaft 26, and on the shaft 29 is mounted a pair of sprocket wheels ofthe same diameter as'those on the shaft 26. Passing around the sprocketwheels on the shafts 26 and 29 are the endless belts 30 to thecorresponding links of which the conveyer buckets 3l are fastened. Thesebuckets are for the purpose of receiving the gravel. discharged from thebuckets 23 and the buckets 31 thus loaded, are drawn up the troughs 27by the suitable rotation of shaft 26. The

side-boards 32 will preferably be used to form a sort of hopper todirect the gravel into the trough 27.

Mounted lon suitable bearings supported by an extension from thestandards 4, 4 is the shaft 33 which has at one end the lsprocket wheel34 which is drivenbythe link-belt 35 from the sprocket vwheel on thedriving shaft of the engine 36.. This engine and its boiler 37 aremounted on the platform 3. Also mounted on the shaft 33 are the sprocketwheels 38 with which the linkbelts 16 make driving contact.

40 are belt tighteners supported from the standards 4 by suitablebrackets 41 and drawn normally toward the standards 4, 4 by the spring42. These spring tighteners keep the link-belts 16 constantly taut.

Mounted on the opposite end of, shaft 33 from the wheel 34 is thesprocket wheel'44, and 45 is a link-belt connecting the sprocket wheel44 with a sprocket Wheel on the end of the shaft 26. By the mechanismwhich has been described, it will be seen that the beltcarrier 16 andthe belt-carriers 30 are both continuously driven by power supplied fromthe engine 36.

In the operation of my device, the frame comprising the timbers 6, 6 isgradually lowered as the gravel is dug up and removed under it, and whena suitable depth has been reached, the platform 3 carrying thisexcavating mechanism is drawn forward across the pit slowly as thegravel is dug up and removed, and when the entire bottom of the pit hasbeen lowered to a uniform depth, the frame comprising the timbers 6, 6will be again lowered, and this operation will be repeated to the fullcapacity of the mechanism for lowering the frame. v

Having thus fully described my invention, what l claim as new and wishto secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a machine for excavating gravel, a floating platform having avertical opening through it near one end. standards on two oppositesides of said openings having inside ribs or flanges which slopeupwardly toward the adjacent end of the platform, an engine located onsaid platform, a shaft supported by said standards and driven from saidengine, a pair of sprocket Wheels mounted on the shaft between saidstandards, a frame comprising two timbers having outside longitudinalgrooves to receive the corresponding ribs of the standards, a shaftsupported by said standards on the opposite side from thefirst-mentioned shaft liaving a hand wheel at one end and a pair ofspury gears opposite said frame timbers, rack-bars on said frame belts,endless carriers to receive the discharge from the upper end of theframe and convey it to the bank of the pit, and means connected with thenist-mentioned shaft for driving said carriers.

2. ln a machine for excavating gravel, a floating platform having avertical opening near one end, standards on two opposite sides of saidopening, a frame comprising two timbers supported by said standards in aposition slightly oblique to the vertical and extending` through theplatform, means for securingthe frame to the standards to permit of alongitudinal adjustment of the frame, racks rcarried by said frame, ashaft having a hand-Wheel mounted on said standards, pinions on saidshaft to engage the racks of the frame, a horizontal shaft at the upperend of the frame and a similar parallel shaft at the lower end of theframe,` sprocket wheels mounted on said upper and lower shafts, ahorizontal shaft supported by the standards, an engine mounted on thefloating platform, means for drivingl the last shaft from said engine, apair of sprocket wheels mounted on said last shaft between thestandards, a pair of link-belts engaging the outer rims of therespective sprocket wheels on said last shaft and passing continuouslyin each case over the corresponding sprocket wheels at` the top of theadjustable frame and under the sprocket wheels at the bottom of saidframe, arms pivoted to the standards, belt-tightening wheels mounted onthe outer ends of said arms and bearing against the outer sides of saidcorresponding link-belts, springs to draw the tightening wheels normallyin toward the belt to keep the latter taut, digging hooks and bucketscarried by said link-belts andendless traveling carriers to receive thedischarge from the upper end of the frame and convey it to the bank ofthe pit.

3. In an excavating machine, a floating platform having a vertical holethrough it adjacent to one end, vertical standards on each side of thehole having guides on their inner sides which slope upwardly toward theadjacent end of the platform, a frame mounted on said Iguide andextending below the platform through said hole and adjustablelongitudinally on said guides, a rack-bar and pinion mechanism to adjustthe frame, an engine located on said platform, a horizontal shaftsupported by said standards and driven from said engine, sprocket wheelsmounted on said shaft, sprocket wheels mounted at both top and bottomends of the adjustable frame, link-belt carriers extending around thelongitudinal dimensions of the frame in contact with the sprocket wheelsat the ends of the frame and in contact with the outer sides of thesprocket wheels on the shaft driven from the engine, belt-tighteningwheels bearing against the ou-ter sides of the belts above the sprocketwheels on said engine-driven shaft, springs for drawing the tighteningwheels normally against theA belts, digging implements and bucketscarried by said belts and endless carriers to receive the .dischargefrom the upper end of the frame and convey it to the bank of thepit,said carriers comprising a trough with sprocket-wheels at each of itsends, endless link-belts passing from end to end of the trough aroundthe corresponding,r sprocket wheels and a series of conveyer bucketscarried by said belts.

In witness whereof, I, have hereunto set my hand and seal atIndianapolis, Indiana, this, sixth day of May, A. D. one thousand ninehundred and six.

EDWARD ULREY. [1.. s.] Witnesses J. A. MiNTUnN, F. W. WonRNnn.

